OK folks…I decided to try this one out last night because I had been so pleased with the yellow cake and fudge icing.

Well…This cake is awful. The batter mixed up nicely, but was very light in color for a devil’s food cake. It baked up nicely, and was light and fluffy. The icing was stiff but spreadable, but it had a funny smell to it – almost chemical like. The cake itself has no flavor at all, and the sugar free vanilla icing has a horrible aftertaste and didn’t taste anything like vanilla – it had more of a flavor you can’t describe.

What’s worse is I had a small piece (1/2 of a regular sized serving – which is 1/12th of the cake, so I had 1/24 of the cake) and immediately got sick off of it. That has nothing to do with the cake itself – just my sensitive pouch.

My husband also tried the cake. He is a huge choco-holic, and agreed with my assessment. We threw the rest of the cake in the garbage.

I’d rate this product 0 out of 5 stars. I will not buy this one again.

Please note, this blog is in no way associated with Pillsbury or with any other product I review here. This is a weightloss surgery blog and I review products that compatible with weightloss surgery. While comments are welcome and appreciated, please understand that they will not be communicated back to Pillsbury unless of course, they do a search and find this blog. Thanks.

Seven years ago I was sitting in a hospital ICU recovering from a heart attack. At the time, I weighed roughly 250 pounds – about 250 more than I weigh now. My blood sugars were well into the 300s. I had high cholesterol. I had high blood pressure. I had one artery that was 100% blocked (Hell-o stent) and one that was 50% blocked. I was 30. It didn’t help that at the time of my heart attack, I had been on Phen-fen, was smoking and taking the pill at the same time.

The cardiologist who treated me when I first went into the ER was Dr. Barry Wohl. He was an angel of God as far as I was concerned, and I’ve seen him as my cardiologist ever since.

On Monday, I saw him for my normal six month cardiac check. In his opinion, not ONLY have I erradicated my high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, BUT he feels that my Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is in REGRESSION. YEP – RE-GRES-SION. Going Away. He feels that more than likely, the blockages in my arteries are actually reducing themselves.

When I had surgery 8 months ago, I was on high blood pressure medication, two cholesterol meds, a beta blocker, plavix, and a host of diabetic meds. Today – nothing. All I take is Protonix (and that is for acid reduction due to the surgery).

I am healthier at 37 than I was at 30.

I’ve truly gotten my life back, and it is amazing.

Thank you Dr. Wohl for saving my life then. Thank you Dr. McKenna for saving my life and saving me from myself.

One thing I have found to be heaven-sent since my surgery has been Greek Yogurt. It’s high in protein and filling, and can be used in place of sour cream in a pinch.

I’ve tried a few brands of the greek yogurt now – chobani, fage and the yoplait. I generally stick with the yoplait because it’s $1.00 for a 6oz container. It has a good consistency and it’s a good serving size. One thing is definite, no matter what brand, I always go for the PLAIN yogurt. The flavored ones all have added sugar, which is a no no.

I love the versatility of greek yogurt. I love adding fruit and nuts to it in the morning for a good protein filled breakfast – and now that its summer, fresh fruit is where its at – sliced strawberries, fresh blueberries, clementines…yum.

If I’m craving sweet, I add in a bit of cocoa powder and sweetner, or a bit of sugar free pudding mix.

I love it on chili or tacos as a substitute from sour cream.

Greek yogurt is the way to go for a good source of protien after bariatric surgery.

We got a great deal on shrimp a few weeks ago, so I have like 70 pounds of frozen shrimp in my freezer.

Mr. G has a DJ gig today, and it’s gonna be about 1,000 degrees today, so I think I’m going to do a quick and easy shrimp for dinner tonight, with a salad and some steamed corn.

Now, we love our shrimp just steamed, but I’ve been thinking I may steam these with a scampi flavoring. Now, normally, I do them with lots of old bay, a can of beer, some lemon slices, and a smidge of vinegar. This is how Bob loves his shrimp. But I’m really craving some garlic, so today I’m going to go ahead and do a few for me in a scampi – some I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray, lots of chopped fresh garlic, cracked black and pink pepper corns and some chopped fresh parsley.

So, since I have a ton of shrimp, wanna point me to your favorite shrimp recipes? Now keep in mind – I can’t do glazes that have sugar in them, but I might be able to do something creative to maybe get the same flavor?